''Curtiz'' is a 2018

Hungarian film Hungary has had a notable cinema industry since the beginning of the 20th century, including Hungarians who affected the world of motion pictures both within and beyond the country's borders. The former could be characterized by directors Istv� ...

by Tamás Yvan Topolánszky, based on the making of the 1942

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

film ''

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

'' by Hungarian director

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...

. That year,

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

had just entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Michael Curtiz filmed his iconic multi-Oscar-winning film ''Casablanca'' under most unusual circumstances. During the shoot, he had to battle almost daily with political censors who wanted to change the film's script. In addition, Curtiz's troubled relationship with his daughter made this period more difficult for him. The 2018 film's producers were Tamás Yvan Topolánszky, Claudia Sümeghy, and Barnabas Hutlassa. The Executive Producer was

Orian Williams Orian Williams (born 11 November 1965) is an American film producer. Williams is best known for the Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated Willem Dafoe/John Malkovich film ''Shadow of the Vampire'', as well as the BIFA-winning ''Control'', an Ian Cur ...

, and the screenwriter was Zsuzsanna Bak.

Plot

The film tells the story of the first Hungarian Academy Award winner, Michael Curtiz (originally known as Mihály Kertész), who won the Best Director Oscar for ''Casablanca'', a romantic film that

film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

consider to be one of the best in film history. Curtiz, who is credited with nearly 200 films, was a highly controversial, aggressive, womanizing, selfish, violent and crude personality. The film about him (the original full Hungarian title is ''Curtiz – A magyar, aki felforgatta Hollywoodot'') was originally made as a TV movie. Its story takes place in 1942, during the filming of ''Casablanca'', when the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese had destroyed

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

had already started bombing the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, and

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

had just entered World War II. Curtiz, meanwhile, could not decide how to finish ''Casablanca'', rewriting the script over and over again as the shooting neared. To make matters worse, to promote

war propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to Social influence, influence or persuade an audience to further an Political agenda, agenda, which may not be Objectivity (journalism), objective and may be selectively presenting facts to en ...

as much as possible, the state authorities appoint a political official to supervise the film in progress, who tries to pressure Curtiz into making changes to the storyline. In defiance of these political interventions, Curtiz is determined to make his film a success, but he also faces serious family tensions during the shoot. The endangerment of his sister, who has stayed in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, and his troubled relationship with his daughter, who has emerged after a long period of absence, take unexpected turns during the filming of the movie. The story of the film is based on real events, with dramatized elements. The filmmakers have created the film with the help of a wealth of anecdotes and memoirs. Screenwriter Zsuzsanna Bak said that the story of the film covers 85 percent of the original events.

Cast

*Ferenc Lengyel ---

*Evelin Dobos --- Kitty *Declan Hannigan --- Mr. Johnson *Scott Alexander Young ---

Hal B. Wallis Harold Brent Wallis (born Aaron Blum Wolowicz; October 19, 1898 – October 5, 1986) was an American film producer. He is best known for producing ''Casablanca'' (1942), ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), and ''True Grit'' (1969), along wit ...

*Joseph Gyabronka ---

S.Z. Sakall Szőke Szakáll (born Jakab Grünwald, akas: Gärtner Sándor and Gerő Jenő; February 2, 1883 February 12, 1955), known in the English-speaking world as S. Z. Sakall, was a Hungarian-American stage and film character actor. He appeared in m ...

*Nikolett Barabas --- Bess *Yan Feldman --- Julius Epstein *Rafael Feldman --- Philip Epstein *Christopher Krieg ---

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German film actor who attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man Who Laugh ...

*Andrew Hefler ---

Jack L. Warner Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...

*Ian O'Donnell ---

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man'' (1933), he appeared in such highly regarded films as '' ...

/ Captain Louis Renault (voice) *Lili Bordán --- Irene Lee *Caroline Boulton --- Louise Fazenda *Eszter Nagy-Kálózy --- Margit (voice) *Jeremy Wheeler --- Government Official No. 1

Awards

* It won the ''Grand Prix des Amériques'' at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

in 2018. The lead role is played by

Ferenc Lengyel Ferenc Lengyel (born 9 September 1966) is a retired Hungarian football midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that ...

, opposite Evelin Dobos. * At the

Riviera International Film Festival The Riviera International Film Festival (RIFF) is an international film festival dedicated to filmmakers under 35 that takes place every year in Sestri Levante. Since the 2018 edition, there is a section entirely dedicated to documentaries RIFF ...

, Topolánszky was awarded the prize for ''Best Film Director''. * At the

Boston International Film Festival The Boston International Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Boston, Massachusetts which showcases over 90 films annually. Established in 2003 by film producer Patrick Jerome, the festival features independent films from ...

, Zoltán Dévényi won the ''Best Cinematography'' award.

Release

Canada

1 September 2018 (

) 2 February 2019 (Pendance Film Festival,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

)

USA

5 April 2019 (Phoenix Film Festival) 15 March 2020 (

)

Italy

8 May 2019 (

Sestri Levante Sestri Levante ( la, Segesta Tigullorum/Segesta Tigulliorum) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Liguria, Italy. Lying on the Mediterranean Sea, it is approximately south of Genoa and is set on a promontory. While nearby ...

)

Hungary

12 September 2019

Poland

11 November 2019 (

Camerimage The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage () is a festival dedicated to the celebration of cinematography and recognition of its creators, cinematographers. The first seven events (1993–1999) were held in Toruń, ...

International Film Festival, Torun)

Netflix

Added to Netflix worldwide on March 25, 2020 for two years with it removed on March 25, 2022.

China

9 May 2022. ( CCTV6)

References

External links

* {{Grand Prix des Amériques 2018 films Hungarian biographical films 2010s biographical films Films about film directors and producers Films about films Cultural depictions of film directors Cultural depictions of Humphrey Bogart